16 Egyptian Police, Several Militants Killed in Sinai Attack

Israeli and Egyptian security forces are on high alert tonight after an attack by militants in Bedouin garb left 16 Egyptian police killed and a border police station sacked.

The militants attacked the police station earlier in the day, sacking the station, killing 16 and injuring several other police, and making off with two army vehicles that were at the compound. The vehicles were used in an attempt to fight through the Kerem Shalom crossing into neighboring Israel.

The attempt to fight into Israel was unsuccessful, as Israeli forces attacked the vehicles and killed an undisclosed number of militants. Egyptian forces are still searching the area for any possible surviving attackers, and Israeli forces are searching their side of the border as well in case any of the attackers got inside.

Hamas, which is on friendly terms with the new Egyptian president, slammed the attack and announced that they are closing all crossings including smuggling tunnels into Egypt to ensure that the attackers don’t try to flee into the Gaza Strip.

No group has claimed credit for the attack yet, but Israeli military officials tapped them as members of Global Jihad and said it was likely they had Palestinian ties.

Author: Jason Ditz

I am surprised Israel is not telling Americans it was Iranian Quds getting vehicles and arms to wage war on the U.S.

curmudgeonvt

"…likely they had Palestinian ties." Well. of course. The Israelis need a reason (not really) to once again subject innocent Palestinians to retribution for things they might not have done. But, I'm confused…I thought all the Israeli angst nowadays was directed at the Iranians. What was it the Germans learned in WWII?? – fighting a 2+ front war is a non-starter – well, non-finisher anyway.

Bianca

If the information is from the Israeli souces, it usually is what Israeli sources would like the world to believe, not what is. The curious fact is that the attackers chose to flee to Israel. If they were Palestinians, they would run anywhere but to Israel. The attackers were dressed in Beduin garb, but nobody is saying that they are Egyptian Beduins. It is very likely that they are paid mercenaries, the empowerished Arabs ready to fight for a few dollars and came from Israel. Where else would they come from? The border is Egyptian-Israeli border — and clearly the police was so unprepared for attack that it was mighty easy to kill them. And then, they run to Israel. What they were not told about their assignment is that Israel was going to kill them. Israel is gradually racheting up the border situation with Egypt. But, as it has been already pointed out by a commentator, it is never a good idea to fight on so many fronts.

Jaime

It's very fishy. And very convenient also for Israel. It's as if they are telling the Egyptians, "We told you not to open the borders to these perfidious Palestinians.

jeff_davis

"The militants attacked the police station… killing 16 … and making off with two army vehicles… The vehicles were used in an attempt to fight through the Kerem Shalom crossing into neighboring Israel."

Then, "The attempt to fight into Israel was unsuccessful, as Israeli forces attacked the vehicles and killed an undisclosed number of militants."

So Palestinian militants from Gaza attack Egyptian police and then try to flee into Israel, by fighting their way through a border crossing? Have I got that right?

For me, the idea of fighting their way into Israel is quite suspicious. If they were Palestinians, why not "fight" their way into Gaza across the Gaza/Egypt border? Got to be easier sledding than attacking Israel, perhaps even a rose petal or two strewn in their path. (***IF*** they were Gazans, and ***IF*** some credible reason for killing Egyptian policemen could be concocted.) And instead of a border crossing, why not a stretch of fence as far from a border crossing as possible?

Also note, the report of the fight at the Israeli border crossing comes from The Times of Israel, which I don't think I'm too bold in suggesting means it comes pre-cleared by Bibi/Likud/IDF/Mossad/Shin bet. So the Israeli line should be seen for what it is, and closely inspected for what it says and doesn't say.

If I were seeking to make a case that this was a Mossad operation, then the "non-incident" at the Israeli border crossing would , in reality, mark the return of the Mossad agents from their mission, while the "fight" at the border crossing would be a staged event to cover the otherwise orderly return of the Mossad agents.

To investigate/confirm the reality behind this business, I would want see bodies of dead militants, inspect the vehicles the Israelis destroyed for signs of blood , bone, etc from the fight, and if found, DNA-match them to the bodies of dead militants.

And of course, I would want to see how cooperative the Israelis would be in response to a call for such investigative procedures.

If no dead bodies were presented and access to the vehicles not allowed, then I would have to conclude that it was a Mossad operation.